Friday, July 21, 2006

Tag, You're It

When is it and when is it not appropriate to tuck someone's shirt tag back inside the collar? Sure, the people close to you (partner, spouse, sibling, friend) but what about in social, or even non-social situations (coworker, cashier, movie patron, plumber)?

If you're standing in line at the bank and the woman in front of you has a tag sticking up, what do you do?

a) tuck it inb) tell her about itc) bothd) neither

Does it depend on your gender too? It might seem normal for a woman to help another woman, or a woman to help a man, but what if a man helps a woman? Too smarmy? Or a man helping another man? Gay or straight? Confusing right? Too many question? Does this blog make me look fat?

I was standing behind a woman in the lunchtime line in Nordstrom Rack the other day. She had (not one, not two, but) three tags sticking up (jacket and blouse, and I am assuming the blouse had two). I didn't say anything to her, because I figured it might have just happened if she was trying things on in the fitting room, and someone in her office would tell her when she returned. And then I thought perhaps she actually didn't try anything on and the tags have been sticking up all day and no one in her office said anything to her. Even though a tag sticking up is not the social equivalent to, say, a booger hanging out of your nose, but it's still polite to let people know.I think.

I've told people in the past if I thought they were cute and wanted to meet them. It's a nice ice breaker. And if you really want to meet someone, you can actually lie and tell them its sticking up and pretend to tuck it in for them. How will they ever know? Those damn tags pop up on their own all the time. A sneeze will throw those things in the air faster than Paris Hilton's legs.